Newcastle Offered Top Marseilles Winger

Get French Football News is today exclusively reporting that French club Marseilles have offered their attacking midfielder/winger Andre Ayew to Newcastle United in the last week.

Andre Ayew – offered to Newcastle
Marseilles want to unload the 24 year-old this summer, and Newcastle were credited with an interest last summer in the player, who at that time said his dream move would be to Liverpool.

Marseilles President Vincent Labrune is now in London, and there’s a report in the French daily L’Equipe that he is offering the 51 times capped Ghanaian international to a number of English clubs while on his visit to London.

Andre joined Marseilles back in 2007, and since that time he has played 166 games with 49 goals and 16 assists for the French club, and he played very well for Ghana in the World Cup in Brazil over the summer and scored a couple of good goals.

He is now surplus to requirements at Marseilles, and he’s a goal scoring midfielder – which seems to be what Newcastle have been after this summer.

But with Cabella, Perez and Aarons all showing up well on the wings in pre-season, we don’t know if Newcastle will be interested in signing the player – who would be available for around £5M or even less from the French club.

What do you think?

Comments welcome.

Note: Paul Lawson is a NUFC season ticket holder living in Birmingham, and wonders if there are any other season ticket holders in the area, so they can share the car expenses to Newcastle – you can contact Paul at 07969296054.

Our Toon
Sell/cancel by mutual consent same thing
I wasn’t making a point about balancing finances but stating how ever you look at it at least one player needs moving on, also said i don’t see why it has to be Tiote
Calm down lad!

Our Toon,
Agreed on Grenier. Anita/Colback could do a different kind of defensive role but it would leave us more open centrally, so IF we do sell him then a top class centre back makes sense. Not sure this Celtic lad is top class. HE has played in 2 average-poor leagues so far.

I read that the Balotelli deal was off due to the scouters wanting a good behaviour clause in the deal, and that they want Falcao on loan with a £12million loan fee involved!!

It is difficult for the fans though, most of us want to support our team and see it be the best it is, but due to the finances it is so far detached from reality that it makes it difficult to have any influence. Villa have been up for sale for a lot less then we would be and also have great potential, but no buyers have come forward. We can campaign for Ashley gone as much as we want but without some sort of exit strategy for Ashley and a buyer lined up it will be difficult to change. Rock and a hard place springs to mind.

I chose wickham because he is big cfd,young and team player. better than danny ings.good in the air
and set pieces.some where in the season, we may need set piece to win games when our opponents get stubborn and deadlocked, on those situations,
wickham can deliver the short pieces..

He’s an excellent player which would be a good addition. My overriding thought though is that he would block the development of any of our own players. In general it is great that good players come but there needs to be a balance to give youngster, even just 1 a season, to try and break through.

Tads/Our Toon,
Unless they will accept less then they are due contractually it doesn’t really benefit us to release them on a free. While they are here there is always the off chance someone may take them, be that on loan and pay part/all wages or maybe even buy them. Again, I don’t think any of this should have a bearing on whether we buy or not. It is small change when compared to the TV cash, probably around £2.5 -£3million per player. We didn’t pay off Smith or Xisco, so doubt we will here.

We would probably let them go on free as it would mean not paying wages – a la Barton, but that will happen last minute if at all. There don’t appear to be many takers for either.

Like the sarcstic dig at the 50,000 fans accepting again from the last topic. Funny how the minority keep bringing this topic of conversation up !!
Were one game into the season and put a brave game on against the pl champs and we are being written off already

Lilo
My point was that the squad as it stands in terms of senior players is full, the players have already been registered in the squad, so if we want to bring anyone in, in order to register them, someone, anyone has to be moved on
My point had nothing to do with fees or finances so not sure why OT thought that was the point i was getting at

I’m calm now mate, just really miffed we have all decided to settle in for whatever this regime dictates to us. Sad times at the toon, spineless on the pitch, spineless manager and more shockingly spineless fans…never thought I’d say that about our fans. At least Liverpool fans got together and protested, our lot can’t even be bothered to get off there backsides to force something different to happen.

Players don’t need to be registered to play in cup games so Jonas etc could be used for them games yet not be registered for the league matches. We are desperate for a CB and have been for sometime, another reason why I find it shocking that we as fans just sit back and take the shite. In any business you have to spend money to make money.

would be an ideal signing. Can score and create but also has the work rate unlike HBA. Cabella de Jong and Ayew playing behind Riviere would be brilliant and could also allow Sissoko to be played in the middle

Tads,
Squad registration isn’t final until after transfer deadline. Players can still be taken out without being moved on and added if they arrive. HBA and Jonas could still be removed from the squad before the final selection.

After days of reading article length posts about how woeful we were against Citeh Tsunki for me summed it up in one short post

103Tsunki // Aug 20, 2014 at 5:57 PM

It’s another stat hole to fall into. Zero shots on target. Given that our team has been knocked back to trial status by reason of the new boys having to settle in together, the lack of clear cut shots on goal wasn’t a worry. What I DID See was a lot more creativity from attacking mid, players switching wings and roving about outside the D, good crosses ( yes I actually said it at last) and some good ideas from various players who looked like they meant to get into danger areas at long last. So what if Perez’ shot was off, he lit up the game and maybe could have made a lot of difference if brought on earlier. I saw more creative threat in us than a handful of lame speculative digs from outside the area.

I think there are goals in there, please Pards don’t mess these ones up.

Its one game in lads and we look far sharper in midfield far more creative and much much faster moving the ball around, we have a whole new frontline, it will click

Do you agree with the policy of sell players in there peak? Do you agree that we spend very little and have to sell before we can buy? How far have we progressed with this strategy?

It wasn’t a dig at the players or the team but a dig at the regime, unfortunately fans like yourself have problems making a distinction between both of them aspects. You see it as 1 game in, I see it as 7 years in with MA (might have been longer).

Our Toon,
Liverpool fans got together, but if RBS hadn’t pulled the plug on the finances then they wouldn’t have got rid anywhere near as easily. That is a key difference between our situation and Liverpool.

Absolutely no chance a manager like Bielsa would want HBA in his squad. High energy, pressing and work rate are all key ingredients in any Bielsa team.

How many midfielders do we need ffs.
We,ve got far more concerns about a striker and CB.
Ayew is available for 6M apparently.
In that case we could buy Richards for the same price instead.
Its going to the same old story at the end of the transfer window, we sell Tiote and dont have time to replace him or bring in another player for a different position.
Yet another profitable transfer window for the greedy fat twat that is Ashley.

I know what Liverpool fans did and I know it was RBS who pulled the plug, the relationship between both owners was strained as well which obviously didn’t help, but the fans got together and actually showed the world they weren’t happy with what was happening. We’ve done nothing, with MA considering the shares at rangers maybe now is the time to remind him he isn’t wanted…force him to move sooner than he initially had planned

I agree with Our Toon, in that if we sell Tiote we need a like for like replacement. Personally Tiote should not be sold, but if so, then Mo Diame would be my choice. Cheaper and teeny bit younger, less bookings. I still think Grenier is a must though, just not as a Tiote’s replacement. We need more game changers. I rate Andre Ayew too, pacey and tracks back. The mark of a good team is the bench that has options to come on and change the outcome of the game for the better.

OurToon…I believe part of the issue you’ve kind of answered in your own post.

In business you have to spend money to make money. Our owner is the king at spending as little as possible to make as much as possible and that is exactly what he’s doing here…or at least what he thinks he’s doing.

There is a good argument to say he could spend more and make more, but I imagine he views it as unnecessary and higher risk.

I’ll reserve my judgement of this windows business until it closes, but as it stands, I wouldn’t say we’ve really strengthened so much, maybe have better players for whatever system it is we’re supposed to have..but too early to call that one imo.

Also is Tiote at his peak?
He was phenomenal in his first 2 seasons
The Europa league season, he was awful, when he missed games injured or through suspension Perch came in and looked better than him
He started last season in the same manor, he looked rejuvenated when he got the armband and an on form Tiote is a fantastic sight but i certainly wouldn’t say were cashing in whilst he’s at his very best as it stands

Go for Richards and Van Dijk. Get rid of Taylor.
Next year keep on Collo and sell Willo. Keep Collo for a year or two to provide tutilage to these young boys. Still think Mbiwa could make it if he has the right partner in at CB. He looks twice the player when in with Williamson than when in with Collo.

On Ayew, he would be a good addition to the squad so we should take him. But with the fact that we usually sell to buy I can’t see it happeneing. Unless a straight swap for HBA is possible.

Tads,
It is no different to naming a player in the squad who won’t be used. Which is looking the likely scenario for both Jonas and HBA. If someone came in to take that spot then fine. Releasing them on a free would still mean paying there contract up, so is no different to not naming them in the 25.

There are still opportunities, probably more in the case of Jonas, to offload after the window is shut on loan to the championship. Even if we got part payment of his wages that would be better than paying him off, or naming him in the squad and not using him.

Ourtoon
Fell into the trap straight away i see lol..
I could write a patronising post about fans like you who only see your own views and not of others but i wont.
We could have easily come away with a draw sunday, And i came away from the game disappointed granted but pleasantly suprised by the performance.
Agreed no shots on goal, but that was down to as much quality defending admitted by Pellegrini himself.Who also gave us a rave review as did Company.
If your asking me who’s opinion holds more weight…. Yours or a pl manager, Sorry you loose pal.

Of course any quality player which is sold should be replaced but we have a major problem MA doesn’t always see it, he likes a gamble and money in the bank is even better.
So if Tiote is sold that means Mash has revamped the squad and made money, Lovely!

Our Toon,
I think that most people realise that Ashley isn’t wanted on Tyneside. There has been plenty of talk on that. Even people over here that follow football no that he is disliked by the majority of fans.

Interesting read in the Ronny by Neil Cameron explaining that Ashley could own 49% of Rangers without him breaking UEFA’s dual ownership rules if we ever met in Europe. There is little benefit for him going there, and it would still require a buyer here which on recent evidence, Aston Villa and supposedly Everton are available, there currently aren’t any. I’d say both of those have similar potential to us so are a decent comparison.

I’m happy we have bought players but unlike most I’m not of the opinion that we have improved….We just replaced what’s left. We ha e fans that behave like crack fiends who haven’t had a fix for while whenever we sign a player. These players have been long overdue and I will only get excited when we sign a CB and a CF which unfortunately we still lack.

To many accepting mediocrity both on the pitch and off the pitch….Our expectations have been managed to a level where we are happy enough to lose at home against city and not get a shot on target, yet it’s hailed as a good performance. Before MA that would never have been acceptable.

Decent window, not great and if Tiote is lost then this isn’t a very good window at all in my eyes. Hopefully SDJ can get over his niggles and be the link between midfield and attack

Ibiza @ 12 – I’m good mate, currently in London, at my daughters. Going into Hospital today for some tests and then back in next Tuesday for surgery Wednesday – will be off line for about a week I guess.

Face it. None of these transfer gossip stories carry any weight whatsoever. They’re just made up to fill pages/columns.

Mike Ashley will only sanction a purchase if it makes financial sense, which means either the cost of the player is considered to be a great deal in terms of what we predict he will be worth after 2/3 years in the PL with us or perhaps we desperately need to replace a player and the new boy costs less than the outgoing player (who someone has overpaid for).

No centre back is coming in unless Saylor or MYM leave (and who would pay their fee & wages?), can’t see a striker coming in when we have Cisse, SDJ, Ferreyra and Perez to place up there plus Goofy, HBA (if he sorted himself out), Aarons and Cabella to play the other attacking roles. Grenier…minor possibility if they really want HBA in return and both players are willing…

You think we were unlucky? Haha. Yeah zero shots on target and we were unlucky….Jeez mate that’s distorting things a little isn’t it.

Pellegrini and Kompany say that about all teams, they are hardly going to come out and say they were shite.

We showed them far to much respect in that 1st half, we allowed Silva nasri and toure to turn and pick a pass at all opportunities. They had a LB playing RB, we had a go in the 2nd half but only in the last 10 mins did we really give it a go. Throughout the game we had 1 person in the box, to you it may have looked good and yes they made some decent blocks but that’s what they are paid to do. We couldn’t even force a save from the opposition goalkeeper

Lowering fans expectations from what? From massive investment from SJH and an exciting maverick manager in KK in a league where only Man Utd were clearly better than the rest? Or from having a truly world class manager in SBR and an owner willing to drive the club into huge debt in order to buy marquee signings?

How are our expectations compared to before SJH/KK? How are our achievements compared to the last 20 years under any manager other than KK (the first time) or SBR?

Comparing our club unfavourably to those two golden eras is like physically comparing your wife, when you’re 40, unfavourably to that 21 year old stunner you had a fumble with in University…

OurToon…I missed the game as I was working, so probably shouldn’t comment too much

I totally understand what you’re saying about fans expectations being managed, but would counter that with perhaps people are just happy to see some improvement on what went down in the second half of last season. From what I have read, I think even from yourself, is that we did move better and create more chances, but didn’t take them.

It was the first game of the season, against great opposition and we did have new players still working each other out.

I think it’s just a case of some perspective, rather than acceptance. Obviously not for everyone…there are a few nutcases on either side of this argument

Graeme…I wont pry too much, but I wish you well with whatever it is you’re having done.

In case it’s serious, I will wish you luck with your boob job to try and lighten the mood!

No probs matey I have a semi final cup game this evening for cricket so will look forward to your reply but may not respond.

Pellegrini said we were very solid at the back and Joe Hart didn’t have any problems and in the 2nd half it was normal that we started to get tired, the players aren’t able to play 90 minutes at the moment but continued with our attitude and scored the 2nd goal.

TDS
I was just having a bit of fun when I mentioned your name mate. Tbo what you said in post 42 is correct, everything has to make financial sence to MA.
But most fans have come to accept we don’t pay x amounts on players and we cant beat certain teams anymore, because that’s the way is.

Our Toon – I’m not sure if you were actually at the match or not? What you say is true BUT the shots on target is a misleading stat as others have mentioned. At the match you could clearly see our patterns of play were much improved, I can’t remember an aimless long punt upfield and Cabella looks like he could be magic, even Colo & Willo looked quite solid it was Janmaat who loked weak but it was his first game. I think it is these things that give people hope for this season.

Ehiotoon, Why has no one signed Classie or Wijnaldum or De Vrij? I don’t think anyone here can answer why no one else has signed Grenier. There will be lots of reasons. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that he is not a good player. I think he is going to a top top player, personally, someone to control and change the game – with excellent movement and vision.

I watched the game and don’t get me wrong it wasn’t all doom and gloom, we played some good stuff however a few issues remain in my eyes. We were pleasant on the eye until the final 3rd where things became very rushed and very rarely did we have more than Riviere in the box. Cabella was decent but not enough movement for him ahead or options to play enough probing passes….Plenty of step overs and mugging players off by making them look daft at times but he did hold onto the ball too long at times and got dispossessed quite often.

Colback who had a good game but the issue for me and where this lad was let down is that he chased everything whilst his team mates rarely pressed the ball, meaning he was caught out of position at times because city just passed it round him….playing triangles around him but lots of energy.

As a team it was frustrating to watch us not take the game to citeh, at home it’s important to take control and put the opposition under pressure, we didn’t do this and showed them far to much respect. We didn’t press as a team and didn’t put Clichy under pressure….here is a LB playing his 3rd game at RB and we didn’t even make him work.

That my honest analysis, shackles remained on in the fear of what Citeh might do to us rather than concentrating on how or where we can hurt them. Played ok but played with fear, more importantly didn’t test Joe Hart who didn’t play in the community shield and would have been under pressure to keep a clean sheet with the new keep being bought in.

Am I the only person alive who has watched Rojo play at league level, and thought ‘average at best’? He had a good world cup, and perhaps he will do well in a higher quality of team, but to be honest he doesn’t look very composed, he can block a shot as well as say Michael Dawson, but he doesn’t look any better than Steven Taylor to me.

I’ll duck in and out mate. Not up for any battles though! Will post my thoughts, maybe respond to one or two and then I’m going to leave if the punches start to fly…

We could always be doing more. Every single club in the league will have fans who say that they’re missing something. Chelsea would have won the league if they had a proper striker last year, Man Utd made some dismal signings, City would have walked it if they had another top class centre half, Arsenal again showed their lack of strength in depth by fading, Spurs squandered ‘the Bale money’…if we do better than average every year, then the average expectations increases, it’s impossible!

Football is all about up and downs…it’s just a shame that some people seem to be stuck on focussing on the ups from the past and see doing ok as a down…

I honestly think that we’d spend £20M on a player if a young Ronaldo became available, the club was convinced he was a potential £50M+ player and he wanted to come to us (perhaps because we were the only club willing to pay the fee AND offer him first team football at a high level). But no way are we going to pay £28M for a Lukaku…

As for beating other teams? You mean in terms of league position? Yeah…sadly the top 5 are streets ahead of the rest…every other club needs to hope they slip up to finish above them. Not sure what can be done about that really…sad…

He would be an outstanding buy. Somebody posed the question earlier whether he just looked good at celtic because it is in a poor league. Having watched him quite a lot in both the SPL and Eredivisie, it is quite clear that he is a genuinely talented player. He stands out miles ahead of any other celtic player.

In regards to his playing style, he is a VERY attacking centre-back who loves to run with the ball out of defence and also to break forward with attacks. He has a very good long-range shot on him and has also been a free-kick taker at both of his previous clubs. He therefore offers a genuine threat from corners, free-kicks and open play.

The only issue is that he is pretty similar to MYM when he arrived and for one reason or another that hasn’t worked out. I fear that Pardew’s natural conservativeness may well inhibit his attacking instincts to the detriment of his wider game.

I voted with my feet and didn’t renew my season ticket which I had held for half my life (15 years) last season is the first time I have missed a match in 15 years and I’ve vowed never to step foot in SJP until the Cockney crew depart.

Would you disagree with my analysis below of what the game was like or do you feel as though I missed anything seeing as you were there.

Willo played at least 10 long balls but aimed them to Riviere, who was isolated….bit like his turn and shit when 40 yards out. It’s a worry that he lacks composure.

Well, I happen to think it’s completely appropriate…or…err…I wouldn’t have posted it. Would you care to explain why you don’t think some fans are stuck on the SBR and KK days while ignoring the rest of our history?

As for flouncing…no such thing. I announced that I was going to disappear for a while and I did. I said I’d return after we had made a few signings before the season kicked off and I did. Simple really.

TDSarf…As always, being a bit more open, having better PR and actually showing some sporting ambition, rather than just financial ambition, would go a long way to repairing the relationship with the fans.

I do still think it’s unreasonable to expect fans to simply go, oh ok, we trust you now.

With Pardew in charge, we know we wont be going full tilt against Man City. He will “try” to remain organised and tight and then try and hit them later on.

We have seen in the past, that when the team gets a better understanding of each other and gets some momentum that things have progressed. Let’s see how things develop over the next few games or so.

My position on Pardew is the same as it was last season. If an upgrade was on the cards I’d be delighted, however, I see no gain in a like for like replacement which is all I imagine we’d get under Ashley. Does that make me a spineless fan (not saying you’ve accused me of such a thing….just going off your earlier comment)? I’ll use geography as my excuse for not demanding more from our club

TDSarf…Of course there is always room for improvement at all clubs and granted there will always be some fans that will feel that they’ve not done enough.

I personally feel that Ashley does the bare minimum needed. I just don’t see where the excitement or intent is. That for me is an issue. I know full well that the club needed re-structuring, I believe that is well in motion now. What comes next? I hope some serious ambition, surely we’re better placed than most now…we’ve supposedly done all the ground work.

@72, perhaps I’m being harsh on him, but at league level, that’s as skillful as he’s looked to me. Just to clarifying this, wasn’t comparing him skills wise to Taylor, just giving an opinion on his value. To be fair Portugal isn’t my go-to league for overseas entertainment, but when I’ve watched him, he looks uncomposed. If LVG has paid that money, then he has seen aspects of the player he feels are worth it, but the cynical side of me thinks clubs are just charging top wedge to manyoo as they know they have money to burn.

I’ve said all along that the communication is the single biggest problem at our club these days. We had extremely passionate and charming local lad SJH along with extremely passionate ex-player KK, then a few crappy manager and then incredibly charming top class local lad in SBR. We also had local lad FFS talking the talk to show ambition and interest in football, all the while taking millions out of the club each year and driving us into debt…but hey ho…he talked the talk…

And since then the only people who seemed to have a decent dialogue with the fans were KK (oops), Mort (proper professional) and Hughton (thoroughly nice chap – so so football manager). Now we have recluse Ashley (never talks to the media directly), Charnley (who seems to be the same), and drone Pardew (both in terms of his voice and what he says). Carver has the passion…but a bit too much to put him in front of a camera I think!

In terms of ambition, I’ve said this for about 2/3 years now, I think we need to string together a few top 10 finishes first and then we can push on. That would make the club more attractive to:
– potential sponsors (they don’t want to sponsor a struggling club – or worse, one that gets relegated)
– young players (they want to join a club that is stable or on the up)
– potential buyers (a stable top 10 club with good infrastructure is worth more)

I don’t know better than everyone else. I just know better than some people about some things. If someone chooses to argue with me about one of those things, am I to blame if they end up looking like a moron?

That’s fair enough mate, I just find it frustrating, I look at Burnley against Chelsea on Monday and they were getting 3 or 4 players in the box which was really good to see, they scored as well…took the lead but Fabregas showed his class, and took the game by the scruff if it’s neck. That to me is having a go and losing with dignity, a loss is a loss, I’d rather lose trying than to lose by only really throwing caution to the wind in 2nd half or more importantly in last 15 mins.

The other thing that irked me was that Obertan came off the bench as 1st change, his 1st contribution was to get nut megged by Kolarov and let him run into the box. Yet HBA chills with the reserves and gets blasted for not working hard enough. Ahh anyway let’s not start a topic on the out casted french man this blog will go into meltdown.

On a positive note I’m hoping we can show more in the final third against villa which will get us the win we need.

TDS
Your right when you say a lot are stuck on the KK and SBR days, but like you say those days have sadly gone. But that doesn’t stop us wanting more today. We all know MA could do far more and show some ambition. But he’d rather the fans disliked him and have money in the bank.
Yes he’s spent in this window but 3mil net spend over the last three transfer windows isn’t ambition, and that’s all we want instead of disappointment.

I don’t like just looking at net spend on transfers in and out (I don’t like considering the money at all, i’m a football fan not an accounting fan). But if we are to look at these things then all club finances need to be considered…we get most of them money from TV and then merch/tickets…so where is that going?

Is it all used correctly? Is any left over? Is any taken by the owner? etc etc

Transfers are a small part of the clubs business, need to consider all income streams and outgoings if this is true.

TS, since the fat man took over the accounts are an absolute black hole mate. I spend a good part of my working day reading accounts, but the NUFC ones can be classed entirely as ‘grey areas’. To fully understand it you need a full seat of accruals, rather than the snap-shots and consolodated versions that everybody gets to try and sound knowledgeable on. Last year they were revised at least 5 times, so if anybody fully understands the full financial picture outside of the club, then frankly I would be amazed.

@ 66 Ourtoon
I totally understand about you voting with your feet.
i too held a season ticket for 19 yrs and gave it up a few seasons ago for the same reasons as you probably did..
there are plenty more fans thinking along the same lines now judgeing by the fact that sundays game was,nt a full house, and that being the first of the season AND against the champions.
That does,nt make us any less of a fan than current season ticket holders,it just means we,ve got principles and want ambition for our club,,and under Ashley that will never happen.

I would take Richards, as when he gets a run in the team I think he is very good. Yes, he does seem to injure a lot, but no worse than say ‘Woodgate at his peak’. Not saying Richards is as good as Woody, but to be honest if we could turn back the clock and take him at his peak, then I am sure most of us would take him no probs, injuries or not. I do think Richards age works for him though, and hopefully the injuries are just unlucky, and not a fragile constituion.

TDSarf…You will probably remember I championed the Ashley approach and being completely honest…it does require some time and patience. However, due to their actions and how they’ve handled / treated the fans, I completely understand why many fans don’t have any trust and patience.

It all comes across now as an easy excuse.

They can always prove us wrong. Time will tell.

OurToon…I get what you’re saying. I guess from Pardew and Ashleys position, they feel they have more to lose than say a Burnley. It’s like Blackpool a few seasons ago. Played some decent attacking football, but often got slaughtered. Pardews primary order will surely be to guarantee survival. That is his job.

I’d love it if he were more courageous, but I wont jump on him for not doing so on the seasons opener against City. I don’t however want to see the same stuff over and over, regardless of the opposition.

As for Squiddy…totally get you. From reports mind, he had a pretty decent pre-season, so we’ll see if this was his opportunity and whether Pardew thinks he took it or not. I don’t remember him giving the lad too many run outs last season, so once again, it’s the waiting game for me.

TS…I don’t think too many fans cared about the accounts until it was used by the club as the reason we cannot compete.

It just doesn’t add up in a simple sense. Granted accounts can be complex, so if there is nothing to hide, make it idiot proof and show things for what they are. They don’t and that just creates more bad feeling.

That’s my view on it anyway.

I do however agree on not caring about player purchase amounts. Paying more doesn’t mean you’ll get a better player.

Our Toon @66 As I said I agree with most of your analysis. I wasn’t having a pop about attending matches just saying that actually at the match you could see our patterns of play were better. I really can’t remember Willo playing a lot of long balls and against City it is surely a valid tactic to keep it tight in the first half, it would be different against, say, Burnley at home.

pyunky at 59 -1 he has only played 1 game and 1 sub since march and is still out with a long term injury. 2 most clubs will have realised lyons form improved with him out beating psg and qualifing for europa league. 3 greniers shooting accuracy of 27% . 4 they have watched him play. his 4 goals and 5 assists from 102 corners 48 free kicks and 63 shots at goal in league belie his fans claim he is creative deadball status.

Fergie said about squid that he’s a very good player in training, he does very well in preseason but he suffers from nerves when playing in competitive games, especially in front of big crowds. So it doesn’t surprise me how he played in friendlies, this conman has being doing that for some time now.

I get what you say on the rest but we can’t hide from certain facts…We lost our 8th home game of 2014 out of 11. Won 3 drawn 0 that in itself says a lot

I wasn’t having a pop at you mate, I used to always say to my some of my mates that didn’t attend games that the TV will only ever show you the ball but not the off ball movement of players, I thought you may have seen something different if you’d attended the game.

Rotonda
Just personal opinion really mate but just think the lads a very classy player, 25 solid tackler good range of passing and loves a Cabaye style long diagonal ball (not goofball just good at switching the play quickly!) and can fill in at CB if things got desperate!
Oh and loves a long range effort

1949bh
He is rising star no doubt about that.he is indeed dead ball specialist.he has an equal talent as cabaye.has everything.I don’t know the performance of Lyon with and without him but all I can see is that
his goal scoring and assists get improving and improving just like cabaye when he was here with us.if we get a player like him,we can challenge top six or even more..

Indeed you are spot on, but as we are told we have to sell before we can buy. This window is average so far, safe to say we have already bought Krul’s replacement for next season. CB and ST and I’m happy without any outgoings

OurToon…Don’t you start looking at football in terms of annual years rather than seasons mate! Seems Ashley has got you accepting that rubbish too

We all know last season, well, the second half of it, was beyond pathetic. Even if we win our next 10 home games, if we look back the home win percentage will still look bad.

This is a new season and whilst we have to keep last season in the back of our mind, as far as results etc go, we have to wipe the slate clean imo and see how we do this season, with new players.

So far it’s 1 loss. Granted at home, but also against the previous seasons league champions (whoops…what was that I said about keeping last season in the back of the mind…what a hypocrite ). We can all throw some stats and ideas around to make our arguments, but it is only one game at the end of the day which tells us very little imo.

He’s running it like a business and that’s simply not going to change. To be fair, most of the owners do things exactly the same way. Look at Everton’s scrimping and saving over the last decade, look at Spurs grooming young players and then selling them for a big profit (Bale, Modric, Keane, Berbatov etc.)

What we really need is someone at the club with some personality who can talk up our ambitions for the club. Someone showing some passion, who understands the financial constraints, but wants to push them to the limit in order to bring some excitement and success to the club.

Time will tell…but it depends what it would take to convince fans that things are going to be different? Regular CL football? Virtually impossible. Competing closely with Everton and Spurs (and should be Sunderland and Villa too really) to try and net a 4th place once in a while? That’s probably where we want to get to next…and there’s a hell of a lot of effort required even for that!

Cups? Well…I just think we need to get to a QF and then go for it after that!

All Ashley has done is gave Pardew the transfer money from the sales of Cabeye and Debuchy.
That money has simply replaced players we have lost and were crying out for last season.
Without these signings we would have possibly been relegated and even Ashley knew that.
Signing the players was,nt ambition,it was a necessity to keep our premier lge status, and at the end of the day,that is all Ashley is bothered about, getting the 60 or 70M a yr for survival.
Would you really say that was ambition?

Transfer
I think it’s too early to judge whether we changed from last year or not. but I am sure u and I agree we played very well against city,no question.however in what context do u think we haven’t show the expected progress?

Progress? It’s a competition with 19 other clubs, all of whom want the same thing, several of whom (5) have significantly more resources than us, 1 (Spurs) has more resources and have been a solid top 10 side for a decade and 1 (Everton) have been a solid top 10 side for a decade too. It isn’t a computer game where things consistently get better year after year, we have ups and downs like every club does.

Progress for me would be turning the club into a solid top 10 finisher. For that, we need a complete squad (which I think we have), quality youngsters signed and coming through (which I’m yet to be convinced about) and the infrastructure to support all of this (which I’m only partially convinced about).

This talk of establishing ourselves as a top ten club ! over how many years ? If there was some type of plan with proper footballing people in charge then maybe we could believe it, we qualified for Europa too soon ! How exactly ? Would be better placed for it this year ? The year we escaped relegation by the skin of our teeth we hire the world renowned DoF JfK, how on earth is this a regime that knows what it is doing other than making maximum money with minimal outlay, I do not want to hear BS about the accounts don’t lie, revenues are 50M down a year, where is that going.

I’m not getting into a debate about accounts, that’s just bloody boring frankly and it takes a bloody long time to go into detail on the key areas…some of which I don’t fully grasp anyway…

But as for establishing ourselves as top 10 club. From last year! It needs to be maintained now. Just look at Spurs and Everton, they’ve been trying for a decade to get to a point where they can have a stab at CL football and they’ve done bloody well to get there, while other clubs have faltered. Look at Villa…huge club! And yet they’re languishing towards the bottom of the table with an okish manager, a tight chairman and a pretty poor squad. They should be up there in the top 10 too.

Its worrying to me that we seem to have a full squad (i.e can’t buy any more players at the moment) yet there are holes in our squad which need to be filled.

My list of players surpluss to requirements are as follows –

Tiote – He had one good season for us, got injured and has never really delivered on his promise. We havent missed him whilst he’s been out, too old, to reckless with far too many bookings. Lets cash iin.

Guttierez – Good at running down wing but no end product. Get rid.

Haris Vuckic – never developed on potential. Gettings arkwardly old to have in our squad as one for the future.

Sammy Ameobi – give him a year away on loan and reassess. Big chance of turning into another shola as has flashes of brilliance but lacks consistancy.

Steven Taylor – as much as I love his passion and dedication to the toon, hes not very good really is he? Championship quality at best. Time to go stevie.

Ryan Taylor – Why is he still here? If my maths is right he’s in the last year of his contract. He’s 32, injury prone. We should cut our losses and buy out his contract to make space.

Obertan – he’s good in pre season against weak opposition but shit against premier league players. What does that tell us? Not good enough for this league!!

So who do we bring in to replace and strengten?

Vuckic – proven striker of the ilk of remy or lacazette. Whoever our target for that position is at the minute.

Guttierez – Ayew – great young talent. Prolific in ligue 1. Would be competition for goofy down left wing. Strong powerful with gol threat!

Ryan Taylor – Micah Richards – out with the old in with the young. He could come in and provide real competition for full back position. Give us depth and seciruty in case of injury. At only 24 still room for improvement!!

Obertan – Zaha – a chance to increase our ranks of home grown players and get a rough diamond ready to be polished up. Fantastic raw talent we should be snapping up, and if he’s shit I would still rather have a young english player with bundles of potential than an aging foreigner with zero talent or composure on the ball.

Tiote – creatie midfielder of the ilk of Grenier. We could stop pretending sissoko is a winger and play him where he is clearly best suited as a midfield power house, breaking up opposition attacks yet having the pace and strength to join counter attacks and get involved in the air. Would offer some much needed depth in our creative ranks.

This is the direction I would like to see the team take over the next couple of windows. If we could get a CB in before the end of the window and then in Jan we could have a positive window, strengthening instead of imploding we would have a great squad.

tds – I see that you obviously do not want to answer my question about your areas of knowledge/expertise that you say you have over others.
I anticipate you realised that in replying you would have known that you would have been stepping into the abyss of getting your arse twanged. The point I ultimately would have made is that you should not generalise that you have more knowledge than others -especially on a blog where we have no idea of the antecedents of the other posters. It does come across as somewhat antagonistic.

TDS
We will never compete with the top six clubs because a/ financial reasons and the main reason like you pointed out he’s running us as a business, any quality players that do well instead of building a team around them they are sold then we start over again, buying with the potential of selling on for profit.

We will probably never compete with the top 5 because they’re massively far ahead! Man Utd, Liverpool and Arsenal are just much bigger clubs with loads of trophies in the last few decades and a global fan base to support that. Arsenal have been fantastically well run even when saving money to build the new stadium. And Chelski and Citeh are artificially inflated by billionaires being willing to spend huge sums of money on transfers.

Any other reasons are superfluous, it’s like saying that the UK’s economy used to be bigger than the USA’s economy and complaining that if we did some things better then we could be again.

When a club is so far ahead of us, how badly do you think they need to screw up to let as catch them? And then how badly do you think they need to screw up to allow us to stay ahead of them? They would need to do what Rangers did…and then they would still probably be back up in the PL as a huge club within a decade…

Have you ever put any thought into the statement selling for profit? How much profit do you believe is actually being made. A few million? And I’m assuming you mean profit for Ashley. Why would someone worth in excess of 5 billion be concerning himself with what is for him, pocket money. What is far more likely is that we are trying to balance our squad, spread the talent over a number of positions instead of Cabaye and ben arfa, and build our squad properly to be a competitive unit.

Liverpool were out of the top 6, built a fantastic squad and finished 2nd. It makes far more sense for Mashley to want us to do as well as possible, dreaming of eventually champions league football maybe, so that when the whole world is watching st james park and all they can see is sports direct logos, he sees a big boost in brand awareness and profits, bigger than sabotaging our squad for a few million and the animosity of a city!

Bringing in those players is all well and good but by my estimation they would cost over 30M.
So where do we get the money,?
Tiote would bring in a third of that, the rest of the bunch you dont want would bring in 5M IF we are lucky.
Hey ,we might be lucky and Ashley might of just got a blow job and feel generous, but i doubt it lol
Nice try thoogh

Nice to see some fair minded points on here from Mickalonius, Tequila, Bills-son etc rather that the usual obsessive oddball rants from Catch and Co. Cathy, I cant be arsed to look from your post to me on a previous thread. My position on Pardew is roughly as follows:

– He’s a middling manager
-He was lucky to get the gig
-He doesnt publicly slate his boss because he’s on a hiding to nothing if he does ( except that some blog fans might respect him, apparently, if he does)
– He got us to 5th, and even if Liverpool etc had been good that year, 7th is still very good. He also had a disaster a couple of seasons back, but do far, he has us at about mid table on average, which is about our level.
-He is hamstrung by a hugely unambitious owner and will know better than any fan that he needs a striker and centre half, but wont say this publicly ( unlike, say, Fat Sam ) , because he is shrewd and doesnt want to moan or demotivate his players, rightly.
– His football, with the players he wants, is not that bad. It was only bad for one season
-I do feel he is too defensively minded, and needs to get his midfield further up the pitch. This is typical of a defensive midfielder, which is what he was.
– People who use words like “pardewed” are daft. Players like Cabaye, Debuchy and other were sold for good money not because he had made them worse! If guys like Fergie didnt progress, is this his fault?
– He has had his legs taken from under him by the sale of Carroll, Cabaye etc
-His position was compromised by Cabaye at the start of last season but he managed it well and got him playing again
-I’d like if he put out an olive branch to HBA, but feel that HBA is a lazy troblemaker who is overrated by fans who cannot judge footballers properly. I dont think the players love HBA at all – have we heard anything supportive from any of them? I wont blame Pardew if what we have heard re HBA is true. In fairness, this boy has form at upsetting people. And for a bloke that tried to talk himself up as a potentially great european player, France dont want him either.
-Pardew is a smart political animal and a good man manager, as shown by his careful stewardship of Cabaye, Colo , and HBA for a while.
-Our return from free kicks / dead balls is v poor
-The fitness of our players is comparable with other teams and will probably be better this year, not that you will be giving Pardew any credit
-Blaming Pardew for as much as you do, makes you look stupid, unreasonable and oddly obsessive

Mostly agree with you there. But again I have to ask, when you say “hugely unambitious owner”, can I ask what owners you are comparing him to? Compared to SJH sure. Compare him to the owner of Everton and he seems similar, albeit the club is a few years behind, compare him to the owner of Saints and they’re wondering what the hell is going on right now! Compare him to the owners of Villa and Sunderland and they’re doing pathetically considering the size of their club. How about the ambition of the likes of Leeds, QPR, Portsmouth and Cardiff that backfired? Ok, QPR might be back in the PL but they’ve spent a fortune and they’re not exactly a stable PL club…

I just think this word “ambition” is tripped out all too often. Are the fans defining ambition as talking the talk in terms of winning trophies and trying to push into the top 6? Or is ambition doing what you think is the right thing to grow the club properly?

Looks like joel campell going nowere. Wenger wants him to stay…rapidley running out of striker targets..we need to spend serious cash and bid a little over the odds for a proven striker like hanandez and get this deal done and get him in the team..or someone simmilar

tds – exploring comments made on a blog is surely the whole idea of a blog in the first place -not (neccessarily touting for a fight).
If someone wants to make -what I would describe as arrogant statements – without foundation or a shred of evidence to support their statement – I think it is quite in order for others to enquire further.
Tuff 1 – 0 TDS.

I know mate…if only Ashley would pull his finger out and sign a world class manager, then we could push for the top 4! True…are there any world class Geordie managers out there? Steve Bruce! Aaah…oh well…maybe not…

I’m signing off for lunch soon anyway…I’ve already been stretching my luck for people to come online who don’t know where the line between debate and abuse is…

This is why I said it should be a plan for the next couple of transfer windows. We can however start now with the sale of Tiote. Figure say between 8 and 14 million. Lets say his sale allows us to bring in 8m van dijt plus his wages for his contract safely put away. We sell guttierez and obertan, theres an Andre Ayew. We have a net spend of 3m so you would hope that there is some money to spend on 1 more player. For me that would be Richards.

We get to January, we’re playing really well but lacking an attacking threat up front. Cisse has recovered by then and has player alright without setting the world on fire. We flog him for 6-8 million. That goes half way to signing a top quality striker. We land remy/lacazette who cant believe they ever decided to stay in the hovels of QPR or Lyon.

A good Jan transfer window gives us a surge of momentum and against all the odds we qualify for europa league. Learning from out mistakes we strengthen using latest batch of premier league tv money. We ship off ameobi who turns out to be shite and get Zaha from relegated QPR or palace. Get in grenier with a champions league relese clause as well as Micah Richards and another CB to cover our defence. We may then be able to replace perez, facundo or riviere with lacazette if they fail to perform. 1 year on we have a squad capable of challenging for champions league spot and we win the europa league. 12 months further on after more strengtening we become the first club to win the europa league and champions league succesively. Take the domestic treble and sports direct is the single most talked about clothing brand in the world

You would go and buy Grenier only to put him on the bench? That’s ridiculously amusing. And the fact that you would get Grenier and rid Tiote tells me your tactical knowledge and awareness. Perhaps that’s why you’re still playing FM. You do realise that in your lineup you actually only has one competent defensive midfielder in Anita? And you can only name seven subs not nine!

I genuinely think that someone like FDB would have a motive to work under Ashley and would have a plan to rebuild the club from the ground up, making us into the English ajax, and still getting top 5/6.

Sarf, you make a good point re Ashley there. You could add Celtic to that mix – a true selling club. I’m not comparing us to other clubs, but if I was, i dont see why we should not be more ambitious than any of those mentioned. We have a safety net in terms of crowds and revenue and i dont think he has found the balance between spending and saving yet, although i am delighted with this summers work, even if we havent done much more than spend the cabaye etc money

No harm in wishing or speculating…but Pardew isn’t going to be replaced unless he fails to perform this season. Clubs don’t sack managers who hit targets unless they fall out with the owner or dressing room.

And I’d rather we hit our targets to be honest. If he fails, then off he goes…

Can’t say much about Frank de Boer because he’s never managed in the PL…some managers have come here and struggled, others have been excellent…

Another of the daft circular arguments is re players not signed etc. Bearing in mind that we are a regional club, who dont pay daft money , when we dont sign players, some of the lunatic obsessive fringe blame Pardew because “he’s crap” . If we do sign good players and dont get top 6 , its because Pardew is crap, etc etc. And when good players are spotted, developed and then sold, its Pardews fault for crap football, but Pardew gets no credit for helping to sign them in the first place! Give the man a break i say, for now anyway.

Don’t you think we need the safety net? A critical injury to a couple of our key players and we need the money to get replacements. It’s not good to be living ‘hand to mouth’ all of the time.

As I’ve also said before, the revenue from the fans is a much smaller percentage of total revenue than it used to be. So we don’t have as much of an advantage over the likes of Saints as we did before. And Villa, Sunderland and Everton are all around 40,000 average attendances so not small.

g s tooner
In all businesses things are sold for profit,
But in football like you say in it can help improve other areas of the team, like Liverpool are doing. But are Newcastle? In the previous two transfer windows not one player was bought. We have No proven CF and we’re relying on a average defence.
talking of money where is all sky tv money going? Other clubs use some to strengthen, do we?

You’re missing out prize money for league position, revenue from participation in other competitions (especially CL) and sponsorship money (bound to go to the clubs in Europe or at least solid top half clubs with minimal chance of relegation).

Most NUFC fans are in Newcastle, just as most Sunderland fans are in poverty (sorry – in Sunderland) and most Villa fans are in Birmingham. All of the clubs do have global fans but most fans in other countries will be supporting clubs who are actually winning things…

I agree we do have a financial advantage over those clubs but it’s nowhere near as big as it used to be…

In this formation, I feel we are quite balanced and have adequate covers for all positions except for ‘de Jong’. Elliott obviously for GK, Coloccini for CB/DM, Anita for DM/RB/LB, Aarons for LW/RW, Ayoze for ST, Gouffran for LW/RW/ST, Cisse for ST.

He’s certainly unambitious when it comes to competing for honors, unless your prepared to accept that his plan is for a long term sustainable success. He hasn’t even reinvested the profits as yet, so he’s prudent almost to a fault from a fans perspective, I’d say. I’m not anti Ashley at all, but he’s certainly very patient for a guy who owns a club of the size of Newcastle, without a major honor in 45 years, and of course being pretty well cashed up anyway you look at it. I actually like our approach, but I’m sure it’s more fun if you’re a City, Chelsea, Liverpool, or Spurs fan. Even Everton have splashed 30 mill on a striker and they’ve been crying poor for years.

We must get our fair share outside of the top 5/6 for that….I know what you mean but I still think our strong fan base (although much smaller than man utd) will be much bigger than southampton and stoke

Progress? It’s a competition with 19 other clubs, all of whom want the same thing, several of whom (5) have significantly more resources than us, 1 (Spurs) has more resources and have been a solid top 10 side for a decade and 1 (Everton) have been a solid top 10 side for a decade too. It isn’t a computer game where things consistently get better year after year, we have ups and downs like every club does.

Progress for me would be turning the club into a solid top 10 finisher. For that, we need a complete squad (which I think we have), quality youngsters signed and coming through (which I’m yet to be convinced about) and the infrastructure to support all of this (which I’m only partially convinced about).

Yeah. Just checked and matchday revenue for us was around £28M and for Saints was around £17M. Stoke was slightly less than this. So we’ve got £11M a year advantage over Saints…significant but nothing compared to the advantage that the top 5 and Spurs have over us at the moment.

pawl250 – Yeah I would be happy with that too. I’d be gutted to see HBA go but if he’s just going to be wasted in the reserves then it makes sense for all parties to swap him for a player of Grenier’s quality.

Zaha looks good but so did Obertan in Man Ure. RTayler in for Van Dijk is a good move but I doubt we’ll ship him out in this window simply because it will break his heart after just recovering from being 2 seasons out with injury. We’d probably ship out Guiterrez in his place.

im sick of hearing fans going on about HBA yes hes very talented but also very single minded he will not work for the team, hes come back pre season over weight and gobs off at the manager in front of the team?? he cannot be part of the group , what kind of message does this send out to the rest of the squad if all was forgotten, i say he will never realise his full potential because he is a spoilt brat.. us as fans shouldnt talk of him anymore, he will never wear a toon shirt again. so good ridance to HBA. jonas will never play again because his contract staes if he does he will get a pay rise and another year. lets move on and get behind the team without HBA AND JG

You always go back to referring to computer games, it’s something you must do but I haven’t played one in in over 13 years….nor do I intend to. I do have my own business though and I understand business, finances etc.

1st thing is anyone buying a football club to make money out of it or to make it profitable and yet successful is just deluded. You do defend the policies on here of this regime yet miss the basic reasons why we don’t progress.

We are bottom of the list in regards to ambition especially for a club of our stature. It’s amazing how an Ath Madrid team won the Spanish league and got to the CL final by having a squad that cost less than Bale. They’ve sold Falcao, Torres and many others but have progressed every year. They get 32m from a TV deal yet real and barca get over 100m, here is an owner who can’t compete financially and is a pauper compared to MA but there owner had ambition.

We spend very little or just enough to get by, the only reason he owns us is down to Sports Direct and what that company as well as his other investments can get out of it. He isn’t here for the good of the club, he’s building a brand and being our owner is the perfect platform for him to showcase his real love.

Can you explain to me how Everton, a 2 city club with less income than and less support than us can continuously achieve more than us in the transfer market and on the pitch?

MA uses NUFC for advertising, free advertising, the mansoors spend 100m to sponsor Citeh and develop the facilities. We pay sports direct for warehousing merchandise but they don’t pay us for advertising, meanwhile the debt remains. You are currently peddling your agenda here and quite clearly haven’t looked at the facts when you claim we can’t compete.

Agreed. But it’s easier said than done. Every club is trying to do exactly the same thing and the best coaches are naturally going to be attracted to the biggest clubs (with the biggest wages) and maybe a club with an exciting project.

Saints have had a good academy for quite a while. It seems to go in cycles and good young players attract other good young players. Man Utd haven’t churned out a real star for a while now and neither have West Ham for that matter.

Not only did Saints have the likes of Walcott and Bale before, but they were then able to keep their young players at the club and come through the divisions with them. Most clubs would have had to loan the players out and it must have been great to have that continuity and for the players to achieve their promise.

I just don’t see how it’s so difficult, I appreciate it takes time but surely we can offer the saints coaching staff a good package and a chance to create another brilliant academy with us if we really wanted.

We could probably even approach the 2nd in command at places like barca and ajax and ask if they would like to run their own set up with us (maybe wouldn’t have interest but some would, and many better than we have).

I’m not saying we do everything wrong…but their are a lot of ‘cheap’ (in the grand scheme of things) we can do to improve the club a lot.

I’m pretty certain man utd have just churned out Januzaji (wrong spelling) but plenty of people saying he’ll be the next big thing in football, Pogba is another one…he moved in though as Fergie wouldn’t give into his demands….daft decision

LVG is some who was credited for the success of the Spanish and German national teams for the methods he initially implemented into the youth teams of Barca and Bayern which has seen them churn out world cup winners and CL winners. Did some research on this guy and his always fixes the youth set up 1st and then concentrates on the senior team.

Ballotelli to Liverpool probably isn’t great news for us. Even though I see them as quite a bit better than us. I felt we might have been an outside chance of shading them considering the sale of Suarez and their European commitments. But if they did get Ballotelli, I’d back them for another tilt at the title. 16 mill is peanuts for a striker of his quality, no matter how difficult he is to manage. Scores goals, roughs up centre backs and home fans love him. I’ve missed him.

You can’t compare us to an anomaly like Athletico Madrid and complain that we’re not doing the same! I could point to a dozen other big clubs who aren’t achieving their potential too.

Everton have been frugal for years, just surviving some years, sticking with a manager with dull tactics and have slowly slowly built themselves into a solid top 10 team. Their income is comparable to ours and their support is not too different either.

Why would the Saints guys want to leave for us? If they’re that good then why wouldn’t they leave for a CL club? Is it really down the staff or is it also down to the local infrastructure? Is there enough investment in school level coaching and coaching in the Newcastle area?

Why leave a successful and ongoing project for an unknown?

As for the 2nd in command at other clubs…not sure what you mean by 2nd in command…

I really don’t think it is that simple when you also put yourself in the minds of the other people involved…if it was, every club would be doing it. In fact, I think every club is trying to do it and that’s why it’s so bloody hard to do…

Simeone has shown exactly what can be done with good management and the right backing. A proper well drilled unit where everyone knows there roles and an owner that’s willing to back them as well.

Dortmund are another that get raided by Munich etc yet still maintain there standard.

Everton are nowhere near us on a commercial stand point but we have allowed them to get there. Also we are spending within means which means lack of advertising money makes us less competitive, we don’t maximise revenues so how are we expected to compete?

We get into bed with Wonga and sign a contract which is worth less that the one we had with Virgin Money

Sarf, I firmly believe we still have to find the balance of ambition v safety and prudence. Our situation is very different to the likes of Portsmouth and from what i hear, there was no truth in rumours that we were washed up financially. Irrespective of this, to try and get closer one europa / CL , we need to invest more than just what we sell , and i dont think we will be bankrupt because of that. As for Athletico etc, i dont agree with the poster. the PL is far harder to win , admirable as the ambition is. Also, there are very few truly brilliant coaches like the Marid one.

What Malky has done is worse than big Ron, it should kill his career and what makes it worse is that this idiot came on TV to let the world know how harshly treated he was. Never thought I’d say this but Vincent Tan did the right thing!!

What I mean by 2nd in command is not the head of academies but their assistants or other coaching staff.

They will know the methods and some personel which will be useful (certainly better than ours) and they might like the challenge to run the academy themselves.

In much the same way you might make the vice president of a huge company like microsoft to run a smaller start up company with potential where he can set his own stamp on it and run things his way but with good experience.

Also with cat 1 status we can get players in from anywhere in the country. Players in a lot of south american countries are good despite structure and organised coaching, academies get players in at a very young age, so no reason we can’t mold them from a young age.

Also when i was younger i went to sunderland football coaching sessions in my town, they’d send affiliated coaches to offer sessions as well as keep an eye on local talent.

I may be over simplifying it but the point remains, we could do a lot more than we currently do…our coaches are dated and poor. (not all but a good few)

I don’t want to get any further into this because it’s a minefield frankly and there are so many areas that could be debated.

But I will say I agree with you about sound management and backing. However, we know that every club tries to balance ambition with caution and many have failed miserably. Everton have been going for a cautious approach and it’s working well for them.

Everton were nowhere near us on a commercial standpoint up until SBR was there because we were CL contenders and they were floundering or being a yoyo team. Then we sacked SBR, got some crap managers and racked up a lot of debt.

As for the Wonga v Virgin money thing…says who? I’ve never seen facts that back this up and it makes zero sense so why would it be true?

It can be done properly, and we probably need to build in the same way that Everton and Spurs have done. Only we’re several years behind…no other way for it now in my opinion…

Mackay could potentially avoid action from the FA if the governing body decides that the alleged text messages were private. In May the FA took no action against the Premier League chief executive, Richard Scudamore, when sexist emails from his work inbox were leaked to the press, citing that its policy was not to act on “private communications”

In honor of two dedicated Newcastle fans, who lost their lives supporting Newcastle United, when their passenger jet was shot down over Ukraine on Thursday July 17th, 2014 by rebels, as they were traveling to support the team in New Zealand.

We will never forget them.

Fantasy League

Mark Harding has again set up the Fantasy League for our readers for this season.

The new code is 3641-1656 and people can set up the league here:

http://fantasy.premierleague.com

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Health Update - 4 Feb, 2015

I had another battery of medical tests early last week, and the results show my PSA count as undetectable, which means the prostate cancer is still under control, and there is no trace of cancer in the body.

I'm very pleased about that!

Ed Harrison

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What Is A Football Club?

“What is a club in any case?"

“Not the buildings or the directors or the people who are paid to represent it.

It’s not the television contracts, get-out clauses, marketing departments or executive boxes."

“It’s the noise, the passion, the feeling of belonging, the pride in your city."

“It’s a small boy clambering up stadium steps for the very first time, gripping his father’s hand, gawping at that hallowed stretch of turf beneath him and, without being able to do a thing about it, falling in love.”